One of my good bowling buddies passed away last week, and he is well-known in bowling circles here in Schuylkill County. Jim Johnson died last week, after a valiant bout with cancer.
I first met Jimmy in '96 when I ran a tournament at SpareTime (during a blizzard). He was coaching the juniors at SpareTime for the first few years it was open. His daughter, Kim, finished 5th that day. After a few years, I met up with him again in 2004. He always came to the Wednesday night league, and subbed on my team a few times. After we won the league championship last year, our team all voted to chip in and give him our trophy for winning the title.
I treasured any chance I got to talk to him. When Kim told me about when Jimmy was diagnosed, it broke her heart. I regret that I hadn't talked to him since the summer, but he had a way of finding out how I was doing, and he always listened to my show when he was driving around and taking care of his wife, Susie.
Jimmy was just 59. His viewing is tonight, and funeral tomorrow in Tamaqua. I do plan on honoring him the next chance I get with my series of tournaments. He was one of my biggest supporters, on air and on the lanes. Thanx, Jimmy. I'll miss you, but I know your watching me.
----
Congratulations to all our area basketball teams on their victories on Saturday...
Buckle Up,
TS
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment